On the September 10, 2026, broadcast of “Today,” co-anchor Savannah Guthrie referred to her missing mother, Nancy Guthrie, in the past tense — seven months into a search that appears to have stalled.

It came during an upbeat stretch: the hosts had just announced a live episode to be filmed in County Kerry, Ireland, and Guthrie brought up her own family.

“My mother’s family w-, my mother was Irish, her grandmother,” Guthrie said. “They were from Galway.”

The other hosts went quiet. Seated between Al Roker and Craig Melvin, Guthrie kept her smile and her energy, then turned to Carson Daly: “You have some Irish, right?”

Viewers noticed the tense. A source close to “Today” and to Guthrie said her use of the past tense was not an acknowledgment that Nancy Guthrie had died.

Missing Since February 1

Nancy Guthrie, 84, lived alone north of Tucson, Ariz. She was reported missing around noon on February 1 after failing to arrive at a friend’s house to watch a church service. The last time anyone saw her was the evening before, when her son-in-law dropped her at home following dinner at her daughter Annie Guthrie’s house. Her garage opened shortly before 9:50 p.m. on January 31 and closed minutes later, and blood later identified by DNA testing as hers was found on the front porch. She uses a pacemaker and daily heart medication and has trouble walking.

The Pima County Sheriff’s Office said it believed someone took her, possibly in the middle of the night. Investigators had not identified a suspect or person of interest, the office said in a February 4 statement, and had no credible information that any abduction was targeted. Sheriff’s officials and the FBI have treated the case as a kidnapping for ransom, and no suspect has been publicly named as of September 19.

Sheriff Chris Nanos said in February that relatives were not under suspicion. “To be clear, the Guthrie family, to include all siblings and spouses, has been cleared as possible suspects,” he said. He also ruled out the idea that she had wandered off because of dementia: “She is as sharp as a tack.”

Two Notes and a Deadline

Savannah Guthrie posted a 20-second video on February 7, sitting beside her brother, Camron Guthrie, and her sister, Annie Guthrie, holding her siblings’ hands. A message had reached the family, she said; she pleaded for her mother’s return and said the family would pay.

Tucson television station KOLD received two notes — the first through its news tips system on February 2, the second just before noon on February 6. News director Jessica Bobula told NBC News the first carried two deadlines and a request for funds and indicated Nancy could be harmed. The station handed both to the sheriff’s office with the IP information.

Once the notes became public, KOLD said two had come in — one demanded millions in Bitcoin in exchange for Guthrie’s return, and the other said she had died. Law enforcement sources said one note claimed her abductors never intended for her to die and that she died soon after she vanished.

At the “Today” desk in New York, Savannah Guthrie said she would not comment on NBC News’ coverage of the case and instead urged anyone with information to speak to investigators. The family was in agony, she said, and would never stop looking for her mother. The sheriff’s office referred those questions to the FBI.

Where the Search Stands

Guthrie returned to the “Today” anchor desk on April 6 and has said little about the case since.

In August, she posted an Instagram message addressed to her mother’s kidnappers. Every day, she wrote, the family wakes up and tries to be strong and go on, because that is what their joyful and resilient mother taught them to do. “But make no mistake — our hearts are in ruins,” she wrote.

In a direct message to the kidnappers, she added: “The world can be a cruel and unforgiving place and I know that you have tried to do things the right way.”

The sheriff’s office describes the investigation as active and ongoing and says it is working with the FBI. Laboratories across the country are still supporting DNA and video analysis, the office said in a September 10 statement.

The family has put up a $1 million reward for tips that lead to Nancy Guthrie’s “miracle” return.

On Tuesday, September 15, five days after the Ireland segment, Guthrie issued a renewed public plea about her mother’s disappearance — the most recent public appeal reported in the case. “We just want our mom home, give her a proper goodbye,” she said. “That’s all.”